Outdoors

15 weather terms every Canadian should know

by Blair Eveleigh
- February 21, 2018

Photo by Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock

Canadians sure do love/hate the weather. It’s our #1 topic of conversation; the forecast seems to take up about half of the local news broadcast (in several cliffhanger segments, at that: “Later, I’ll tell you what’s coming our way next week”); and there’s even a whole channel devoted to it—and it’s a ratings hit! These 15 terms, many of them winter-related, of course, are essential knowledge for surviving Canadian weather (or just talking about it).

1

Black ice

No, not the beer of the same name (a 6.1% pale strong lager), but a thin, hard layer of ice that usually forms in late fall or early winter on bodies of water or on roadways. It’s not actually black, but is transparent. Don’t try to skate on it.